France's equivalent of the Community Shield, Le Trophée des Champions, was held for the first time in China last week as part of continuing efforts to expand the international appeal of Ligue 1. The marketing people would have to be fools to base their pitch on the unpredictability of the title race, since Paris Saint-Germain, who beat Guingamp 2-0 in Beijing, look certain to canter to a third successive title. But beyond that the new season promises to be fascinating.

There is even a degree of intrigue in how PSG will prolong their dominance. The £50m purchase of David Luiz was made just before it would have been included in the new season's accounts, an important consideration given the restrictions imposed by Uefa for breaching financial fair play rules. Since then the only major recruit has been the right-back Serge Aurier, whom Toulouse agreed to let go on loan despite having permanent transfer offers from other clubs.

Either PSG are going to have to continue finding ways to persuade clubs to accept such deals or they will be able to make more signings only after selling some of their existing stars for big fees, with Javier Pastore, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Marquinhos among those available.

Yet the loss of Rodríguez, who was the highest assist-provider in Ligue 1 last term, risks damaging Monaco's ability to close the gap on PSG. It will be interesting to see to what extent the Russian billionaire owner, Dmitry Rybolovlev, allows the Rodríguez money – £63m – to be reinvested. The club have admitted their interest in Shakhtar Donetsk's Brazilian duo of Douglas Costa and Alex Teixeira and their recruitment would go some way to restoring creativity, though whether it would be enough in a season in which Monaco also have Champions League demands is questionable.

With Claudio Ranieri's contract not renewed owing to differences over how best to take the club forward, the new manager, the 40-year-old Leonardo Jardim, will have to figure out quickly how to wring the maximum from the squad at his disposal.

That is in some ways the theme of the season in France. Nearly half of the Ligue 1 clubs have new managers and almost all have trimmed budgets. Marseille's £4m signing of the winger Romain Alessandrini from Rennes is the biggest transfer fee paid after David Luiz.

Glamorous player arrivals may be in short supply but some of the managerial appointments are intriguing. Bordeaux spent weeks trying to coax Zinedine Zidane into management but ultimately settled for another former France international, Willy Sagnol. Claude Makélélé has left his assistant role at PSG to take up the reins at Bastia, his first job as a manager.

Lyon have decided to give Hubert Fournier the biggest job of his career. The 46-year-old earned his chance thanks to his work at Reims, whom he guided back to the top flight after a 33-year absence before keeping them there impressively. The on-going austerity drive at Lyon means Fournier will probably have to draw heavily on the fruit of the club's fertile academy, although some of it may be sold, with Clément Grenier and Samuel Umtiti constantly linked with transfers.

One positive is that club captain, Maxime Gonalons, decided to stay despite an offer from Napoli. It looks as if Yoann Gourcuff will also stick around as the club hopes he will finally fulfil his potential and justify their lavish investment in him after several seasons blighted by injury and poor form. Indeed Lyon's president, Jean-Michel Aulas, even claims he wants Gourcuff to agree a new contract (on a lower salary) rather than leave for nothing next year.

If Gourcuff stays, Lyon will need him to recapture his best form and stay fit, so they can challenge for Champions League qualification and also attract a buyer for the midfielder at the end of a successful campaign. Lyon have revamped their medical department in the hope of fewer injuries this term.

The appointment of Gourcuff's father, Christian, as the manager of Algeria means that Lorient will go into a season with a new coach for the first time in over a decade. Gourcuff made the Brittany club a top-flight stayer, playing an attractive style, and the club have promoted his long-time deputy, Sylvain Ripoli, in an effort to ensure continuity.

The appointment that is likely to generate most interest, however, is that of Marcelo Bielsa at Marseille. The famously obsessive Argentinian has spent pre-season implementing all sorts of changes, from altering the size of the training pitch to building a video analysis suite and, most of all, trying to embed a new playing style. As ever, that style is based on relentless pressing. So far Marseille's players have declared themselves happy with the former Argentina, Chile and Athletic Bilbao manager – and performances in pre-season have been good – but it remains to be seen whether Bielsa can prevent his players from burning out given the ferocity of the work rate he demands.